When using images in a website design which incorporates SEO (Search Engine Optimization), the way search engine spiders will react to them should be taken into account, as well as the most effective ways to make them appear in Image Search results. Search engine spiders cannot directly evaluate what images contain or look like, aside from their resolution and file size. However, they can read the alternative text provided for an image, which is specified by using an “ALT” attribute in the “IMG” tag for each of the images – thus, these are likely to have some impact on SEO. The words also appear on text-only web browsers, when a user places the mouse pointer over an image, or on pages where the graphics fail to load.

A benefit of using content-related images is that they give a website the potential to receive traffic through the Image Search features on search engines like Yahoo, Google, and AltaVista. Using images which are not too small, but display acceptably when reduced to a relatively small size, will likely produce a greater number of clicks. While of less significance, it should also be noted that large images are visible on search engines and directories which show thumbnail graphics next to their results, such as Alexa.com or Del.icio.us.

Some image search engines, including Yahoo, display the filenames of images below them. On the other hand, if a webpage has a caption directly below an image, this will likely be used as the caption for Google results. Google Webmaster Tools users can freely opt-in to the Enhanced Image Search feature. According to Google.com, this helps them more effectively index images on a site, partially through using an interesting feature called “Google Image Labeler”.

Words displayed within a picture will not affect the webpage’s SEO keyword density, and the page won’t appear in search results for words that only appear in the image-based text. Putting text which is unrelated to the page’s subject in an image might improve its keyword density for relevant words, which is useful for SEO purposes. Examples of such text may include contact information, advertisements, ordering instructions, or product specifications.

Using relevant images also frequently makes web content more interesting, useful, and attractive. This is beneficial to SEO efforts because it encourages people to voluntarily link to the page and makes it more likely to receive attention on social bookmarking services.

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